Potters in early Wisconsin took advantage of the region's rich natural resources. Earthenware makers dug locally for their red and yellow clays, mixed glazes from lead mined in the southwest part of the state, and powered kilns with wood from nearby forests. They supplied the settlers in their own and surrounding communities with a wide variety of utilitarian forms including jars, crocks, pots, and churns for food storage and preparation. According to historian Mark Knipping, ceramic utensils used in home-based dairying were a major market for Wisconsin's small-scale earthenware potters. For example, potter Conrad Langenberg made many milk pitchers like the example shown here for use as cream separators. The bulbous bodies and wide mouths of these pitchers made them well-suited to their intended function--after the cream rose to the top, the user could remove it by swirling and flicking the vessel; the skimmed milk stayed in the lower part of the pitcher. As the nineteenth century progressed and Wisconsin's dairy industry expanded, a factory-based system replaced domestic production of butter and cheese and large metal vats and cans took the place of small handmade pottery vessels.